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More qualified and diverse candidates run

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Turnout increases at the polls

•

Voters show overwhelming support

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Track the progress as California's grassroots campaign makes it happen:

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Training citizens to spread the word

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Creating a winning coalition

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Working on AB 583

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Keeping you informed on the latest news

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Get Involved in the Los Angeles Full Public Funding Education and Feedback Project:

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The LA City Council Rules Committee has asked for feedback from Neighborhood Councils

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Reach out or participate in a workshop

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A spotlight will be on the second biggest city in the country

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Share the excitement of people across the spectrum who say things like:

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"Government will become more responsive..."

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"I don't owe anyone after the race..."

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"Best thing that has happened to politics..."

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"Serve the public with honor and dignity..."

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California Fair Elections Campaign Comments on Budget Agreement

By Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 16, 2009

CONTACT: Mike Roth, 916.813.1554

LOS ANGELES, CA - The California Fair Elections Campaign
released the following statement from President Trent Lange
today after the Governor and Legislative leaders announced
a budget agreement:

"The budget agreement announced today represents more of
the same broken politics in Sacramento - it leaves
California's roads and schools in even worse condition,
results in even fewer Californians with health care, and
devastates local services - and it doesn't come close to
solving the state's long-term budget problems. Our
money-driven campaign system means elected officials have
to spend too much time raising money, and too little time
working to solve the monumental challenges that matter to
us.

"Fortunately, voters will have the chance to shake up
business as usual by passing the California Fair Elections
Act on the June 2010 ballot. We can finally begin to
fundamentally reform the election process by getting
elected officials out of the fundraising game so they can
devote their time to solving California's problems. The
California Fair Elections Act represents the change voters
want, and the reform California so badly needs."

The California Fair Elections Act passed through the
Legislature and was signed by Governor Schwarzenegger in
2008 and will appear on the June 2010 ballot. The
initiative would create a pilot project providing voluntary
public financing for candidates running for Secretary of
State in 2014 and 2018 who qualify and agree to strict
spending limits, with no taxpayer dollars going to
candidates.

# # #

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)

SACRAMENTO, CA -- A new bill to require that initiative petitions circulated by paid signature gatherers must clearly disclose their top 3 funders was launched with the introduction of SB 651 by Senator Ben Allen. SB 651 is sponsored by the California Clean Money Campaign. Full story

SACRAMENTO, CA -- A new effort to give voters the information they need by requiring significantly greater transparency in political ads was launched with the introduction of the 2017 California DISCLOSE Act by Assemblymembers Jimmy Gomez and Marc Levine. The 2016 version, AB 700, was endorsed by more than 300 organizations and leaders, with 106,000 Californians signing petitions urging the legislature to pass it. Full story

SACRAMENTO -- Today, Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill giving all Californian jurisdictions the right to give their citizens a bigger voice in democracy by changing the way election campaigns are financed. SB 1107 amends California??™s antiquated ban on public financing of campaigns to allow local governments and the state to pass their own systems for citizen funding of election campaigns to magnify the voices of small donors and everyday voters. Full story

Sacramento, CA -- Despite overwhelming support from the public, including petition signatures from more than 106,000 Californians, the California State Senate yesterday failed for the final time to muster the two-thirds vote required to pass Assembly Bill 700 (Gomez-Levine), a landmark bill that would have shone a light on Dark Money and required the true funders of political ads to be disclosed on the ads themselves. Full story

SACRAMENTO -- Last night, the California legislature passed SB 1107, a bill to amend California's antiquated ban on public financing of campaigns and to allow local governments and the state to address special interests in politics by passing their own systems for citizen funding of election campaigns to magnify the voices of small donors and everyday voters. Full story

SACRAMENTO, CA -- With a bipartisan vote in the State Assembly today, California moved one step closer to enacting the nation's most comprehensive election disclosure law. Assembly Bill 700, authored by Assemblymember Jimmy Gomez (D-Los Angeles) and sponsored by the California Clean Money Campaign, requires all non-candidate campaign committees to clearly and prominently disclose the identity of their top three true funders on their campaign advertisements. Full story

"On the last day of the legislative session before the 4th of July, in an important achievement for the national movement to overturn the Supreme Court's Citizens United and McCutcheon decisions, the California State Senate passed SB 1272, the Overturn Citizens United Act..." Full story

Today, the State Senate passed AJR 1, making California the second state in the union to officially call for an Article V constitutional convention for the sole purpose of passing a United States constitutional amendment that would effectively overturn Citizens United... Full story

In an important achievement for the national movement to overturn the Supreme Court's Citizens United and McCutcheon decisions, the California State Senate today passed SB 1272, the Overturn Citizens United Act, which would allow Californians to vote in November 2014 to demand a U.S. Constitutional amendment that says corporations aren't people, and money isn't speech. Full story

The California Clean Money Action Fund announced that it is updating the California Clean Money Scorecard for 2013-2014 by adding two bills that call for overturning the Supreme Court's Citizens United and McCutcheon rulings: SB 1272 (Lieu) and AJR 1 (Gatto). Full story

SB 27, a bill that has national implications by requiring greater transparency from non-profit organizations that spend significant amounts on California campaigns, was signed by Governor Jerry Brown today. Full story

SACRAMENTO — SB 27, a bill that has national implications by requiring greater transparency from non-profit organizations that spend significant amounts on California campaigns, passed the full Senate today in an overwhelming and bipartisan 28-7 vote. Full story

The California Clean Money Action Fund announced the bills that will be scored in the 2013-2014 California Clean Money Scorecard.? The scorecard rates legislators on how often they side with regular Californians by voting for key campaign finance reform and disclosure legislation that is overwhelmingly popular with voters. Full story

The California Democratic Party passed a resolution for Political Advertising Resolution calling for "full disclosure, on the ads themselves, of the largest major funders of all political television, radio, print, slate mailer, and online advertising for ballot measures, independent expenditures, and issue advocacy..." Full story

The Los Angeles City Council is scheduled to vote today on a critical electoral reform package, the Los Angeles Voters' Bill of Rights. Introduced by Councilmembers Jose Huizar, Eric Garcetti, and Paul Koretz, the Voters' Bill of Rights is designed to increase the city's anemic voter turnout and strengthen its public matching funds program to limit special interest control over elections. Full story

A new statewide survey shows that voters are ready to change the way California politicians finance their election campaigns by approving the California Fair Elections Act on the June 2010 ballot. Full story

"Today’s Field Poll is more evidence that Californians are ready to change the way we finance California elections. The California Fair Elections Act on the June 2010 ballot would do start to make that change, and so represents the change voters want and the reform California sorely needs..." Full story

As the nation debates reforms necessary to make health care more accessible and affordable, State Senator Loni Hancock (D-Oakland), the League of Women Voters of Oakland, the California Nurses Association and Health Care for All gathered today to call for the passage of the California Fair Elections Act to get insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies and other anti-reform interests out of the business of funding political campaigns. Full story

The California Fair Elections campaign today announced that the nation’s largest public employee union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), has joined the California Fair Elections Act’s (CFEA) growing list of endorsers. Full story

Led by Assemblymember Hector De La Torre, Latino leaders came together today to educate the Southern California community about the California Fair Elections Act, a ballot proposition which would help level the playing field for Latino candidates running for elected office. Full story

“The budget agreement announced today represents more of the same broken politics in Sacramento.. Fortunately, voters will have the chance to shake up business as usual by passing the California Fair Elections Act on the June 2010 ballot..." Full story

The California Fair Elections Campaign today announced that the Sierra Club, the nation’s largest and oldest grassroots environmental organization, has endorsed the California Fair Elections Act, which will appear on the June 2010 ballot. Full story

SACRAMENTO, CA -- The California Fair Elections campaign today announced that twenty-one Bay Area legislators have joined the California Fair Elections Act’s (CFEA) growing list of endorsers. Full story

“Today’s special election results demonstrate clearly that voters are tired of Sacramento’s politics as usual... The California Fair Elections Act represents the change voters want, and the reform California so badly needs.” Full story

Proponents of the California Fair Elections Act said that a new report released by the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) today demonstrates precisely why California needs fair elections reform. Full story

California Common Cause is sponsoring AB 2552 (Krekorian) to provide better disclosure of the economic interests behind efforts to influence California’s elections. We urge you to support AB 2552. Full story

Last Thursday, an amended version of the Clean Money and Fair Elections Act of 2007 (AB 583) was voted out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee by a vote of 12 to 5. In its amended form, AB 583 will serve as a pilot program for the office of Governor and one open Assembly and State Senate race in 2010. Full story

"As most of you know, Proposition 89 lost at the polls Tuesday, along with almost every other non-bond ballot measure... We will listen to what the voters are telling us, we will respond to it and, in the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger, we will be back -- with a Clean Money proposal that will be successful..."Full story

The Yes on Proposition 89 campaign -- a ballot initiative to clean up political corruption -- is announcing a new Spanish language radio and voter contact campaign built around "Si en la 89," a cumbia sensation by noted Los Angeles band XochiSoneros Full story

Proposition 89 today releases a new ad, Stop The Pounding, in major media markets around the state. It will run in wide release through at least the end of the month. It was produced by Bill Hillsman of North Woods Media and can be viewed at www.89now.org/pounding Full story

The United Teachers Los Angeles, the second-largest local teachers union in the country, Wednesday night endorsed Proposition 89, a November initiative that would reduce political corruption and establish a more level playing field in California elections. UTLA, with 44,000 members, is largest National Education Association local in the country and the largest union in Los Angeles County. Full story

Public Campaign Action Fund and Common Cause, both national groups that work for campaign finance reform and Yes on 89, which supports California’s Proposition 89, the Clean Money and Fair Elections Act, imported a clean politician from Arizona and announced that more than 40 candidates running for congressional office in California have signed the Voters First Pledge Full story

Fueled by disgust with the current system and unprecedented fundraising by big oil, big insurance and developers to swamp the airwaves with their perspective in the November election, grassroots outsiders of both parties are taking to the internet to raise five bucks at a time to support Proposition 89. Full story

U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer today announced her endorsement of Proposition 89. "I've always believed that big special interest money in politics creates a system in which people lose faith in their government. Proposition 89 addresses this problem head-on. I urge a yes vote on Proposition 89," said Boxer. Full story

If you want clean air and clean water, you need clean elections,” said Bill Magavern, senior advocate for Sierra Club California. “Proposition 89 will eliminate the corrupting influence of donors who want to weaken environmental laws by shifting power back to the voters who overwhelmingly support measures to ensure a healthy, safe, and clean environment,” continued Magavern. Full story

By a unanimous vote the delegates of the National Latino Congreso endorsed Proposition 89, an initiative on the November ballot which would enact a broad system of public financing of political campaigns for all statewide offices. Full story

By a unanimous vote the delegates of the National Latino Congreso endorsed a resolution specifically calling for public financing of election campaigns in California. In so doing, the Congreso sets the stage for millions of California Latinos to embrace Proposition 89, an initiative on the November ballot which would enact a broad system of public financing of political campaigns for all statewide offices. Full story

"Only a genuine campaign finance reform overhaul like Proposition 89 could force big labor and big business onto the same team because no cash-rich special interest will be able to buy the legislature if Prop 89 passes," said Jamie Court, president of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR). Full story

California's two major good government organizations, the League of Women Voters of California and California Common Cause, joined a growing coalition of community-based organizations, and announced their endorsement today of Proposition 89, the Clean Money Initiative. Full story

CommonDreams.org, by Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, 7/19/06

The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR) today launched a new web site to expose cash register politics in California that the passage of campaign finance reform Proposition 89 will end: DirtyMoneyWatch.org Full story

SACRAMENTO, Calif., July 10 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Consumer Federation of California ( http://www.consumercal.org ) endorsed Proposition 89 (the "Clean Money" Initiative), citing the increasingly corrosive role corporate campaign contributions play in shaping public policy - benefiting the narrow interests of big business to the detriment of consumers. Full story

According to the Secretary of State, the initiative submitted by the California Nurses Association has garnered more than the 411,000 signatures needed to qualify for the November ballot. As a result, Hancock announced she will drop her legislation so government reform groups can focus on the ballot measure. Full story

Registered Nurses from the California Nurses Association will scrub clean a Republican elephant and a Democratic donkey at the Ronald Reagan State Building in downtown Los Angeles Tuesday, April 11, to launch a November ballot initiative campaign to end the corrupting influence of lobbyists and special interests over California politics. Full story

Arguing that the absence of campaign spending limits severely restricts access of minority and low-income communities to the political process, the Equal Justice Society on Wednesday filed an amicus curiae brief in the United States Supreme Court in Randall v. Sorrell. The California Clean Money Campaign joined a number of other groups in filing the brief. Full story

"This is Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez.... I was so proud that Democrats stood up and voted to clean up our election system with a new clean money bill... Assembly Democrats believe that clean money for clean elections is an idea whose time has come..." Full story

The California Nurses Association late Monday introduced a broad reform initiative to transform politics in California by providing for public financing of elections and tough restrictions on the corrupting influence of corporations, lobbyists, and other big money donors in candidate elections and ballot measure campaigns. Full story

"... While lobbying reform is important, these proposals lack the crucial element needed to restore public confidence in our political system: addressing the pay-to-play campaign finance system that puts lobbyists and other special interests ahead of ordinary voters..." Full story

"Voters won today and the Connecticut legislature made history when lawmakers approved full public financing of legislative and state-wide elections. Under this system, elected officials will be free to run without having to rely on lobbyist contributions or well heeled donors..." Full story

This afternoon the Califonia State Assembly passed a California Common Cause supported bill to enact full public financing of all state offices... Passed by a 5-2 vote of the Assembly Elections Committee, AB 2949 (Hancock-Berkeley) would place a measure on the ballot to create a voluntary system of full public financing for all legislative and statewide races. Full story

“To paraphrase an old saying, if it is broken, do fix it. California's democracy is broken... A clean money system has worked in Arizona and Maine. California would do well to join those states and adopt public financing..." Full story

In all but two Assembly districts and one Senate district, the candidate who raised more campaign funds than their opponent won the race in the November 2002 elections, according to preliminary* analysis done by TheRestofUs.org. Full story

Governor Schwarzenegger has been raising and transferring funds at breakneck pace of late. By raking in $1,727,766, the Governor's total take since his election shot from just over $4,090,230 to $5,817,996 since the last edition of this newsletter on January 27. Full story

A new study, Color of Money 2003, shows a dramatic disparity between America’s diverse population and the small number of people who finance political campaigns: nine out of ten dollars contributed by individuals to federal campaigns and parties (of contributions more than $200) in the 2000 and 2002 elections come from majority non-Hispanic white zip codes, yet nearly one out of three Americans is a person of color. Full story

“We’re pleased that the Court upheld the substantial provisions of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA). Clearly, the Court believes money does not equal speech and that we can regulate the role of money in politics to enhance democracy. However, big money is still drowning the voices of average people in our electoral system..." Full story

"Pundits and other political cynics scoff at citizens' efforts to reform America's money-corrupted political process.... if the cynics would only lift their eyes from their myopic focus on Washington, they would see something big taking place in such diverse states as Maine and Arizona ... public financing of elections." Full story